Proposal for a Council Recommendation adapting Recommendation 98/376/EC on a parking card for people with disabilities, by reason of the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic
Date: 2007-11-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: accession to the European Union, facilities for people with disabilities, harmonisation of standards, parking area

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 19.11.2007 
COM(2007) 720 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 

adapting Recommendation 98/376/EC on a parking card for people with disabilities,  
by reason of the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic 
of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, 
the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, Romania, the 
Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

INTRODUCTION 

Council  Recommendation  98/376/EC  of  4  June  1998  on  a  parking  card  for  people  with 
disabilities  aims  to  ensure  that  the  Member  States  introduce  a  parking  card  for  people  with 
disabilities  based  on  a  standard  Community  model.  This  standard  parking  card  allows  the 
cardholders  to  benefit  from  parking  facilities  reserved  for  people  with  disabilities  in  the 
Member  State  in  which  they  happen  to  be.  Member  States  are  therefore  recommended 
mutually to recognise the parking cards issued by other Member States and conforming to the 
standard Community model annexed to the Recommendation. 

The Annex to the above-mentioned Recommendation entitled “Provisions on the Community-
model  parking  card  for  people  with  disabilities”  defines  the  physical  layout  of  the  parking 
card  in  order  to  have  a  standard  format  throughout  the  European  Community.  The  Annex 
specifies its height, width, colour, material (plastic-coated) and content. 

Following  the  enlargements  of  the  European  Union  in  2004  and  2007,  the  Annex  to  the 
Recommendation  should  be  adapted.  The  proposed  adaptations  can  be  classified  as  a 
“technical update”.  

LEGAL BASE 

The adaptations to be made to Council Recommendation 98/376/EC are based on: 

Article  57  of  the  Act  concerning  the  accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  the  Republic  of 
Estonia,  the  Republic  of  Cyprus,  the  Republic  of  Latvia,  the  Republic  of  Lithuania,  the 
Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia 
and the Slovak Republic; and 

Article 56 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and 
Romania. 

PROCEDURE 

Pursuant  to  Article  57  of  the  Act  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus, 
Latvia,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia,  where  acts  of  the 
institutions  adopted  prior  to  1  May  2004  require  adaptation  by  reason  of  accession,  and  the 
necessary adaptations have not been provided for in the Act of Accession or its Annexes, the 
necessary  adaptations  are  to  be  adopted  by  the  Council,  acting  on  a  proposal  from  the 
Commission, in all cases where the Council adopted the original act. 

Pursuant to Article 56 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of 
Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, where acts of the institutions adopted prior to 1 
January 2007 require adaptation by reason of accession, and the necessary  adaptations have 
not been provided for in this Act or its Annexes, the Council shall adopt the necessary acts, 
acting on a proposal from the Commission, in all cases where the Council adopted the original 
act. 

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The attached proposal covers adaptations of a technical nature in the area of transport policy1. 
This  technical  adaptation  of  the  acquis  communautaire  by  reason  of  accession  has  no 
financial impact. 

TYPE OF ACT 

The type of acts adopted under Article 57(2) of the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, 
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia and under 
Article 56 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and 
Romania must be the same as that of the amended act. In this case, the type of act envisaged 
to  adapt  the  acquis  communautaire  must  be  a  Council  Recommendation  adapting  Council 
Recommendation 98/376/EC. 

1 

The  initial  recommendation  was  based  on  article  75.1  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European 
Community  (currently  the  article  71.1)  which  provides  that  the  Council  shall,  in  accordance  with  the 
article 251 and after consulting the Economical and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions, 
lay down measures to improve transport safety. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 

adapting Recommendation 98/376/EC on a parking card for people with disabilities,  
by reason of the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic 
of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, 
the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, Romania, the 
Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having  regard  to  the  Act  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia2,  and  in  particular  Article  57 
thereof,  

Having  regard  to  the  Act  of  Accession  of  the  Republic  of  Bulgaria  and  Romania3,  and  in 
particular Article 56 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission4, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

For certain acts which remain valid beyond 1 January 2007 and require adaptation by 
reason  of  accession,  the  necessary  adaptations  were  not  provided  for  in  the  Acts  of 
Accession. 

Pursuant to Article 57 of the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, 
Latvia,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia  and  Article  56  of 
the Act of Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania such adaptations are to 
be adopted by the Council, in all cases where the Council adopted the original act. 

(3) 

Council Recommendation 98/376/EC of 4 June 1998 on a parking card for people with 
disabilities5 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

2 
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OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 1. 
OJ L 157, 21.6.2005, p. 29. 
OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L 167, 12.6.1998, p. 25. 

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HEREBY RECOMMENDS: 

1. 

Recommendation 98/376/EC is amended as set out in the Annex. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX  

Council  Recommendation  98/376/EC  of  4  June  1998  on  a  parking  card  for  people  with 
disabilities (OJ L 167, 12.6.1998, p. 25) is amended as follows: 

1)  Under  the  seventh  indent  of  point  D  of  the  Annex,  the  list  of  distinguishing  codes  is 
replaced by the following:: 

“B:  Belgium 

BG:  Bulgaria 

CZ:  Czech Republic 

DK:  Denmark 

D: 

Germany 

EST:  Estonia 

IRL: 

Ireland 

EL:  Greece 

E: 

F: 

I: 

Spain 

France 

Italy 

CY:  Cyprus 

LV:  Latvia 

LT:  Lithuania 

L: 

H: 

Luxembourg 

Hungary 

M:  Malta 

NL:  Netherlands 

A: 

Austria 

PL: 

Poland 

P: 

Portugal 

RO:  Romania 

SLO:  Slovenia 

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SK: 

Slovakia 

FIN:  Finland 

S: 

Sweden 

UK:  United Kingdom” 

2) Under point E of the Annex, the second paragraph is replaced by the following:  

“If a Member State  wishes  to  make the entries in a national language other than  one of the 
following:  Bulgarian,  Czech,  Danish,  Dutch,  English,  Estonian,  Finnish,  French,  German, 
Greek,  Hungarian,  Italian,  Latvian,  Lithuanian,  Maltese,  Polish,  Portuguese,  Romanian, 
Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish or Swedish, it shall draw up a bilingual version of the card using 
one  of  the  aforementioned  languages,  without  prejudice  to  the  other  provisions  of  this 
Annex.”  

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